Kelly Shift Schedule | 24/7 Shift Coverage

Very popular with fire departments and emergency services agencies, the Kelly shift pattern uses three teams (i.e. platoons) and three shifts to provide 24/7 coverage. It consists of a 9-day cycle where each team works one 24-hour shift, followed by 24 hours off duty, works another 24-hour shift, followed by 24 hours off duty, then works a final 24-hour shift, followed by 4 consecutive days off duty.

Personnel work an average of 56 hours per week or 112 hours per two-week pay period, and work the same day of the week for 3 weeks in a row and then have that day off for 9 weeks in a row.

Only Snap Schedule delivers every scheduling feature, fits your budget and is easy to use. It helps companies schedule all types of shifts and overtime based on availability, seniority, hours worked or declined, call in/out, union rules, and collective agreements.

The above grid shows working and non-working days for each team in one repeat cycle. Day 1 usually starts on a Monday but it can be any day of the week. At the end of the cycle, the entire sequence starts over. Color coded blocks represent assigned shifts (working days) while underlines represent non-working days.

The required shifts and shift lengths are shown in the Shifts column. Shift names, start times, and end times are shown as examples only. They can be changed to match the requirements of your operation.

The teams required by the plan are shown in the first column. The total working hours for each team over the repeat cycle are shown in the Hours column, assuming one employee per team.

The last row, Hours, shows the hours worked by all teams in each date range block (leg), assuming one employee per team.

Characteristics

Plan ID

C3TF24-2

Name

Kelly Shift Schedule

Applicability

24/7 operations

Teams Required

3

Shifts

A (24-hr), B (24-hr), C (24-hr),

Repeat Cycle

9 days

Rotation

Fixed plan, no rotation

Average Hours per Week

56

Staffing Fluctuation

Balanced from shift to shift and day to day

Pluses

40 four-consecutive days off duty per year

Personnel never work an entire weekend (Saturday and Sunday)

Minuses

Long shift

Personnel work a given day for 3 consecutive weeks then not work the day for 6 consecutive weeks

Common Usage

Popular with fire departments and emergency services agencies.

Notes

– This plan is very similar to the 3 Team Fixed 24 Plan (C3TF24-1). Instead of using a single 24-hour shift, this plan uses the 3 shift system (A, B, C rotation) that is widely recognized by fire departments and emergency services agencies in the United States.

– The US Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) compensation cycles are 28 days over which firefighters normally works either 216 hours or 240 hours. Hours worked beyond a base of 212 hours in a 28-day period are considered overtime.

-This plan requires living quarters for the employees to work and sleep during each 24-hr shift.

Applicability: The type of operations this shift configuration is designed for.

Teams Required: The number of teams (crews) required by this plan. A team may consist of one or more employees.

Shifts: The different shifts used in this shift pattern. For each shift, only the shift description and shift length are shown. The shift start or end time can be adjusted to fit your business operations so long as the shift length stays the same.

Repeat Cycle: The number of days required for each team to complete its assigned shift sequence in a schedule plan. At the end of each repeat cycle, the team starts the same shift sequence over again.

Rotation: For rotating shift configurations, a team rotates from one shift to another according to a specific arrangement. In a forward rotation, the team rotates from a shift that starts earlier in the day to a shift that starts later in the day, e.g. Day to Swing to Night. In a backward rotation, the reverse is true. Many studies suggest that forward rotation is better than backward rotation since our body adjusts much better to changes in work shifts from earlier to later. The rotation speed is the speed at which the shifts are rotated. In a "fast" rotation, a team rotates from one shift to another once every few days or less. In a "slow" rotation, a team works the same shift for many days or weeks before rotating to another shift.

Average Hours Per Week: This is the average number of hours worked by each employee per week based on the shift lengths and shift sequences for this plan.

Staffing Fluctuation: The fluctuation in staffing level as the plan progresses from shift to shift and day to day. A shift configration is "balanced from shift to shift" if the new shift will be staffed by the same number of employees as the old shift. A shift configuration is "balanced from day to day" if each day is staffed by the same number of employees. Note that by default, each team contains the same number of employees.